


It's Complicated (Cause we made it so)

by pretzel_logic



Series: oneiriad's creature AU bingo board [1]
Category: DC's Legends of Tomorrow (TV), The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Asexual Mick Rory, Except When It Isn't, Incubus Leonard Snart, M/M, Neither knows how to use their words, it's hilarious
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-23
Updated: 2016-09-23
Packaged: 2018-08-16 22:58:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,814
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8120866
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pretzel_logic/pseuds/pretzel_logic
Summary: Len and Mick don't do feelings, especially in their little partners with benefits arrangement (except they totally do).





	

**Author's Note:**

> For the Coldwave Creature Feature Bingo Board made by @oneiriad

Things had started out okay, most jobs usually do. Of course since the job was a sham from the start things went pear-shaped pretty damn fast. Len chalked it up to Hunter’s spectacularly awful planning skills and the team’s lack of information on the ins and outs of time travel. Trial by fire wasn’t Len’s thing but since Hunter did not feel like sharing… The choice was out of his hands.

At least he had Mick. Couldn’t have gone on this trip without him. Not with how quick their missions and layovers went. There was no time to feed. Len’s lips twisted into a smirk at the irony. Naturally Mick caught his expression and silently inquired about it. Len raised his eyebrows and gave a brief nod towards their quarters. The only one that seemed to catch their byplay was Sara who watched them with a sad hunger; one only a lover could satisfy.

Let her and the rest of the crew think his and Mick’s partnership was romantic as well as professional. It was a cover easier to maintain than the truth. 

The two of them slipped away from the others easily enough and Mick barely managed to get their door closed before Len was doing his best to kiss Mick unconscious. He hadn’t been this hungry in years.

Somehow Mick managed to break away from the kiss, strong hands gripping Len’s hips and forcing him away. Len shuddered at the tremor of pleasure that caused him. Mick was the only meal Len enjoyed being overpowered by, the only repeat meal at that.

“What do you need, Lenny?” Mick asked softly, manic lilt to his voice gone now that it was just them.

“Everything. Nobody’s fucking on this damn ship ‘cept us and we didn’t linger in the seventies long enough,” Len explained, growing impatient and trying to get closer to Mick once more. 

“Good thing I’m here then,” Mick hummed as he took in the unfortunate picture Len painted before finally, finally, allowing Len to kiss him again.

~*~

To be perfectly honest Len had not thought Mick did sex for nearly a decade. Oh he flirted with the ladies but he never seemed to follow through. Got more wrapped up in his lighter’s flame than whatever woman offering him a fun time. Len figured if they ever crossed some sort of fire elemental or something he’d do his best to hook Mick up. He owed his partner for picking up the pieces every time one of his romances failed to pan out. Besides, as an incubus Len probably experienced enough sex for the two of them.

So it caught him off guard when Mick offered sex after unfortunate circumstances led Len to unwillingly fast.

“What?”

Mick huffed in irritation. “It’s been weeks since you last got laid. You need a proper meal and I don’t see any other options.”

“I thought you only cared for Fire,” Len said cautiously as he considered Mick’s offer. 

“I do but I still fuck time to time, don’t really care who. Not like I need sex,” Mick said with a shrug and pointed look. 

Len had to admit he had heard of stranger things than an asexual pyromaniac offer an incubus sex but not many. If he wasn’t so hungry he would have turned Mick down with the comfort of knowing his partner wouldn’t be offended. Except he was so very hungry and it took everything Len had to not jump Mick at this point.

“Fine, but we only do what you want. My needs don’t override your comfort zones,” Len demanded as patiently as he could.

Mick snorted, rolling his eyes even as he smirked at Len. “What the fuck do I look like, a virgin prom queen? If I don’t want something you’ll sure as hell know it. Now stop dawdling and let’s do this, Snart.”

~*~

It takes marooning Mick for Len to realize maybe he underestimated how much he cared for Mick. He missed his partner in a hollowed out way. Everyone seemed so eager to ignore the fact they believed he killed Mick except for Jax; he welcomed the young man’s hatred. It was nice to know someone cared about Mick aside from him. Though Len was sure Sara knew the truth and was waiting for Len to speak up. She respected others’ secrets in a way few people did.

He knew he should find someone to seduce for a quick meal in the fifties but he did not have the appetite. Even the idea was exhausting and Rip’s attempts to act like his new best friend grated.

Hearing about Sara making moves on a nurse did bring a smile to his face and the two took a moment to gossip about her possible new beau. 

“Leonard, about Mick-” Sara said abruptly as if just remembering how the subject of lovers could be touchy.

“We made our choices,” he interrupted more harshly than he intended. Len hated the hurt look Sara gave him but at least she dropped the subject. 

Hopefully Kendra would finally kill the immortal bastard this time around so Len could get Mick back. His partner was going to beat the shit out him for all the recent stunts he pulled and Len was tempted to let him.

~*~

“How long have you and Mick been partners if you met when you were fourteen?” Sara asked as they shivered together waiting for Ray to finish the patch job and save them. Incubus he might be but his kind were practically human when it came to things that could kill them. 

“Started pulling heists together after Mick’s first stint in Belle Reve,” Len answered, misinterpreting Sara’s question on purpose. 

Sara punched him in the arm, hard. With a hiss he moved away from her slightly and glared right back at her.

“Ass. You know what I mean.”

Len sighed as he looked away. “It’s not like that. We’ve never been like that.”

Sara snorted. “Oh really? So you two aren’t fucking?”

“We were,” Len said, stressing the past tense because he was hungry but he was not about to go to any of the team while he was on the outs with Mick. That would make patching things up even harder once Mick was done being pissed at him. “That’s it.”

“Uh-huh,” Sara said as she conveyed as much skepticism as she could with her expression.

Mick doesn’t do feelings, he barely does sex. Len wanted to explain but those weren’t his secrets to share. Sure, Mick didn’t care who knew normally but they were fighting. Len did not want to add fuel to this fire, not when he was the one most likely to get burned.

“We don’t do feelings,” Len said after the moment of silence had stretched too long and maybe Sara understood everything he was not saying.

“That’s not what it seemed like the past week,” Sara said in a way that was meant to be comforting but only twisted the knife.

~*~

The only thing scarier than almost dying his first day of juvie was going through puberty his second month in. Leo was a ‘late-bloomer’ by human standards but by incubi and succubi he was two years early. Typical Snart luck. Grandpa had mentioned a family curse from sleeping with the wrong person but Leo hardly believed it until misfortune like this happened.

The job being an entire clusterfuck was partially his old man’s fault, Leo knew that, but even Lewis Snart’s hamfisted approach to burglary could not explain it completely away. Of course Leo got tossed to the pigs to cover up his dad’s role, what judge would give a first time offending 13-year old boy a hard time? Apparently the judge Leo got assigned that wanted to scare him stupid and sentenced him to six months in juvie. Now Leo was a pretty scrawny kid locked up with a bunch of horny boys about to get even prettier. 

The only good thing Leo had going for him was Mick’s protection even if they still hadn’t discussed the price. He was terrified Mick was going to ask for sex or worse, not ask for sex. It’s not like Leo knew how to hide what he was yet and the hunger for something more than food gnawed more and more at him every day.

Leo needed to get out of juvie. He needed to get laid. Whichever happened first was fine with him as long as it happened soon. 

Of course before either could happen Mick found out. Leo’s wings were finally growing and the process was painful, more so if Leo kept them concealed. It was the middle of the night and the guards had just finished one of their hourly check ins. Leo wasted no time in letting his glamour drop with a hiss and letting his wings spread out. He whimpered at the burning feeling of his skin stretched too far, too thin over swiftly growing bones. Growth spurts were a bitch.

He must have made too much noise or Mick was having a rare case of insomnia because within minutes Mick was suddenly in his face.

“Jesus, Snart, why the hell do you sound like- Oh,” the older and bigger teen had demanded, voice quieting as he took in Leo’s extra set of limbs. Transfixed by the sight, Mick reached out and ran a hand along the the upper ridge of Leo’s wings.

Leo moaned as the warm hand brushed over tender skin. The two of them froze in shock at the noise, there was no mistaking how much Leo had enjoyed his wings being touched. Flushing in humiliation, Leo buried his face in his pillow. Bad enough he had let a human see his wings but now Mick knew how sensitive they were.

Mick laughed. “Impressive, they’re like a dragons.”

As far as most humans were concerned dragons were reptiles and only those that had actually seen a dragon up close knew dragons were actually mammals, their scales more like leather plates than anything. Similar to the leather plates that mimicked feathers on Leo’s wings.

“You know?” Leo demanded as he sat up.

“Course, my gram feeds ‘em milk and bread like any farmer with sense should. Though we got to be careful to keep their bowls away from the ones we leave the brownies,” Mick said like it was common knowledge amongst humans that such creatures were real. “Why’d you think I saved you? Could tell you weren’t human. Better to have a Fair Folk in your debt than dead, gram says.”

Leo decided not to mention that his kind were technically demons. He did not feel up to explaining the hierarchy of the alternate planes of existence that made up this dimension. “I’m an incubus, my wings are growing out, and I’m hungry,” Leo confessed after a moment. Trying not to sound like he was sulking.

Mick nodded before patting Leo on the shoulder. “Talk to Jake tomorrow. He knows how to keep quiet. And he gets the good skin cream for that eczema of his.”

“Why-”

“You get him off, he’ll give you the cream, and I’ll put it on your wings. Now go to sleep, Snart,” Mick barked as he went back to bed, patience gone.

Leo carefully buried his wings under his blanket and did his best to sleep. Mick, farm boy that he was, would wake him before dawn to put the glamour back on. Mick was good about things like that.

~*~

Sara’s little pep talk about Mick haunted Len, much to his aggravation. What part of he and Mick did not do feelings did she not understand? So Len’s fallback plan of letting Mick hurt him it was.

Better to have a Fair Folk in your debt than a dead one. Mick was always so fond of saying whenever he saved Len’s ass. He had done what he could to repay the debt but it left him and Mick bound to each other by debts constantly owed and repaid. Partners.

Len always was awful at romance. He used to think it was his lifestyle or his inability to talk feelings or even a combination of the two. Now he suspected it was because he always had Mick. Grandpa never had made any noise about Len finding someone to settle down with like he had for Lisa. An incubus and an asexual, no wonder Lisa was constantly amused by them.

Walking into Mick’s cell for a fight to the death was not the smartest idea Len ever had but it was not the dumbest either. Len trusted Mick not to kill him just like Mick knew in that forest Len would never kill him. It was not a matter of guts but sentiment, and practically thirty years of life together weighed heavily upon them. 

Mick still beat the shit out of him.

~*~

Len never blamed Mick for ditching him and Lisa. Truth be told the less interaction between Mick and Lewis Snart the happier Len was. His father never liked Mick and went out of his way to either anger Mick or put Mick in the line of fire. It was better, that only Lisa’s neck was on the line. Better that Len was the only one forced to play henchman to his dad.

If Mick had stuck around Lewis would have blown his head off with a smile and probably have tried to give Len a comforting shoulder touch.

Len knew the second Barry appeared Lisa had called in the favor Team Flash owed them. He had tried his best to get Barry to go away but hero types always were painfully persistent.

Barry’s little team even managed to save Lisa’s life. A debt Len knew he needed to repay.

Things worked out fine even if he ended up in Iron Heights. Len didn’t blame Mick for ditching him but in the face of Team Flash’s help, he felt bitter. Practical strangers that he had purposefully hurt had helped him out more than his supposed partner.

~*~

Even after his apology, Jax lingered in front of Len. The kid, because he was a kid even more than the Flash, shuffled his feet awkwardly as he tried to work up the courage to say something.

“Out with it,” Len said when it became obvious Jax was not about to talk without some encouragement.

“You don’t look good, man. Haven’t since Rory. I thought it was just me wanting to see things but-”

Of course he was starting to look ill to those that paid attention. His kind could go a month without feeding but it showed. It was over two weeks now since he last had sex. Mick had offered in 2046 but Len had been more interested in getting back to the team. Partying in 2046 was all well and good but Len was still baffled as to why Mick wanted to stay there.

“I’m fine, Jax. Nothing a decent meal won’t fix,” Len said as he got up from his impromptu window seat. He was amused he was even telling Jax the truth.

With Savage escaping them again Len was going to have to look for a meal. He could not wait on Mick even if it did put him at risk of being found out by the team. Hopefully their next destination would provide Len the opportunity to slip away for a time.

~*~

For close to a year one of Len’s biggest nightmares had been watching Mick burn himself to death. Mick had started that fire too soon into the heist and some unaccounted for accelerant had made the building into a death trap. The only reason Len escaped unscathed was because he could fly. Mick had not been so lucky though you would never guess that from the way he waxed poetic about the flames.

The nightmares started like the heist did but instead of flying away, Len watched Mick burn. His partner laughing as flames grew on his arms and swiftly spread to the rest of his body until he was more fire than man. Still laughing Mick would offer Len his hand, inviting him to join him in the flames. Even as he burned away to nothing Mick continued to try to lure Len into the fire, talking about how beautiful the flames were and what an amazing feeling it was to burn.

Len had not had the nightmare since he patched things up with Mick in order to take on the Flash. The first night of having Mick - of having Chronos locked up on the Waverider’s brig brought it back. 

Len jolted awake as the nightmare reached its usual end and at least managed to throw up over the edge of his bed. Somehow, what the Time Masters - and Len - did to Mick was so much worse. Mick loved fire in a way he loved nothing else, burning to death was a pleasant dream come true for him. Chronos was some hollowed out husk of Mick, his inner flame snuffed out and the remains shoved into a fireproof shell.

Chronos wanted to kill Len and more than that, he wanted him to suffer. Irony was, Chronos never had to threaten Lisa to achieve that, taking off his mask was more than enough.

Len curled up around his restored hand and tried not to sleep.

~*~

Len’s not sure what to do. Mick is back but he’s not Len’s Mick. Whatever they were was destroyed by Chronos. So Len might as well give up waiting on Mick and find someone else to fuck. Except Len had no idea how Mick would react. Would Mick get pissed at another ‘sign’ Len had moved on from him? Would Mick not care at all? He was not sure what the worse outcome was.

Needing to save the professor’s life and the subsequent bar fight did not help matters.

Len planned to sneak off on his own for a night on the town except Mick tracked him down to his room and pinned him to the wall.

“Christ, Sara wasn’t lying. You are starving yourself. What the hell, Snart?” Mick demanded as he looked Len over.

“What-”

“You’re fucking awful at noticing those that know what you are. Sara’s figured you out. Not surprising for a member of the League of Assassins. They kill all kinds. Now, why the hell aren’t you feeding?” Mick explained as he shoved Len a little harder into the wall.

Len wanted to lie, to deflect but he was never good at lying to Mick. Had not really lied to Mick since the other saw his wings and compared them to a dragon’s. “You were angry. I wanted you, but you were angry and then you were gone,” Len admitted unable to look Mick in the eye.

Mick snorted in disbelief. “I never cared who you slept with and our fights never stopped you from feeding off someone else before. Pull the other one, Snart, it’s got bells on it,” Mick said, his voice rumbling slightly as his temper became passive.

“I wanted you,” Len said once more, sharply. He meant to leave it at that but could not seem to stop once he started. “I always want you but you don’t always want me. And that’s fine- normally. Normally you don’t care and I know that, so it’s okay.”

Mick seemed to be listening, he looked more confused than angry. “And how was ditching me for six months any different than ditching me this time? Must have slept around with quite a few people until you brought me the Heat gun as a peace offering,” He asked as he put less force into keeping Len pinned to the wall.

“I don’t know if you care anymore,” Len said as he tried to put into words how he felt. Honestly, half the reason Mick and Len don’t talk feelings is because Len can never figure out how to express them.

Mick has known Len for decades though, knew how to figure out what Len meant as opposed to what he said. Still had that skill despite his time as Chronos, because Mick let out a loud exasperated sigh and hugged him.

“Damnit, Snart, is it really that hard to admit you love me?” Mick asked as his hands rubbed at Len’s back where his wings would be if the glamour dropped. 

Len let the glamour vanish as he leaned into Mick’s warmth. “You love fire.”

“You really have to hear me say it? I’m here, aren’t I?” Mick demanded in his usual way of saying things had gotten too touchy feely and he was moving on whether Len was ready or not.

To emphasize his point, Mick started to kiss him just so Len couldn’t talk back. It made Len snicker; actions were so much better than words.

~*~

Mick woke up with a roar and threatening to destroy the universe in a bloody reign of fire of likes yet unseen. Len let him get most of it out of his system, flattered by how much Mick cares. They might not be able to exchange love confessions but it is nice to know they have an ‘ending the world’ romance.

“Mick, chill out,” Len said casually and watched in amusement as the rage left Mick as quickly as it arrived.

“Snart, how the hell are we both still here?” Mick demanded, memories possibly fuzzy from pain or the concussion. Considering the alternative was one of them dead, Len felt little sympathy.

“The failsafe in the Oculus only required an arm to keep it deactivated. Gideon is rather good at restoring limbs,” Len explained, wiggling the fingers of his restored right hand for emphasis.

Freezing Mick’s arm in the Oculus and then shattering his arm off had not been fun. Len regretted that Sara could only knock Mick out after the deed was done but it was necessary. Worth it in the end for all of them to be alive and free of manipulations. Or at least free from the manipulations of Time Masters. 

Mick looked down, noticing his ruined jacket and shirt and perfectly restored arm for the first time. They both ignored Gideon’s cheerful thank you to Len’s compliment and how Mick should take it easy for the next month as his concussion mended.

“Oh.”

Len hummed in agreement. Mick was probably upset the burn scars were gone but Gideon’s system ran on DNA. If Mick wanted the scars back he’d have to redo them himself.

“We’re headed back to 2016. Sara needs some help saving her sister. I was thinking afterwards we should visit Central. See if the Flash has any new tricks to show off. You in?” Len asked with a devious smirk. Already planning the next heist and how to outsmart the Flash.

“Yeah buddy, I’m in.”

**Author's Note:**

> Main blog: [pretzel-log1c](pretzel-log1c.tumblr.com)
> 
> Writer blog: [pretzel-writes ](pretzel-writes.tumblr.com)
> 
> Comment moderation on for anyone that wishes to leave private reviews (please specify so).


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